Railway selective system.



K. E. STUART.

RAILWAY SELECTIVESYSTEM.

APPLICATION FI'LED MAR. 12. 1911.

Patented Oct. 16, 1917.

a SHEETS-SHEET 1 K. E. STUART.

RAILWAY SELECTIVE SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED MAR-1.2. I917. 1,243,457. Patented Oct.16,1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

K. E. STUART.-

Patented Oct. 16, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

.FFTQE.

KENNETH E. STUART, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY SELECTIVE SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Got. 16, 1917.

Application filed March 12, 1917. Serial No. 154,077.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, KENNETH E. STUART, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Railway Selective Systems, of which the following is a specification.-

My invention relates to a system whereby a moving vehicle, such as a railway car or train, may select and control any translating device, as for example, a signaling 0r motive device for producing any desired effeet at a station or stations of a series of stations or other points along the path of travel of the vehicle.

My invention resides in such a system wherein the translating device is disposed either upon the moving vehicle or at any other suitable point along its path of travel, or both, and in which contact conductors are disposed in the path of travel of the vehicle and so disposed as to their position with respect to each other and the path of travel of the vehicle that contacts carried by the vehicle can cooperate with them to close the selected circuit or effect its desired operation.

My invention resides in the system and apparatus hereinafter described and claimed.

For an illustration of some of the forms my invention may take, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a selector switch.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view through the switch shown in Fig. 1 with its cover and operating means.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view showing a contact shoe and a coiiperating contact conductor.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating an embodiment of my invention.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary diagrammatic view illustrating a modification.

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view showing an application of my invention to a system of branched tracks.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, upon an insulating base a, carried hy the metallic base- 72, are the metallic stationary switch contacts 1, 2, 3 and 4 adapted to be engaged by the outer end of the metallic rotary contact brush 0 whose inner end (Z maintains electrical communication with the terminal binding post 6. The member or brush 0 is supported at f upon the boss 9 carried by the rotatable member h, Fig. 2, disposed within the casing cover i and actuated by the shaft carrying the hand wheel 76. Secured to and rotatable with the shaft 7' is the wheel on having the notches n, corre sponding in number with the fixed contacts 1, 2, 3, 4, and in which engages a roller 0 pivoted on the slidable member ;0 thrust forward by the spring g. The roller 0 cooperates with the notched wheel m to hold the brush 0 in position to which moved for contact with the respective stationary contacts to prevent chance movement of the brush 0 from position to which moved. Upon rotating the hand wheel 70 the roller 0 will be thrown outwardly, due to the shape of the notch 11., in opposition to spring 9, and then ride over, the edge of the wheel m and engage in the next notch or the notch corresponding to the selected position of the brush 0. The stationary contacts 1, 2, 3, and t are supplied with the binding posts, as indicated at 7".

Referring now to Fig. 4, V represents a moving vehicle, such as a railroad car or train, having the wheels 8 traveling upon the track rails t, which latter are also indicated diagrammatically at the right of the figure. Upon the vehicle V are disposed two apparatus of the character described in connection with Figs. 1 and 2 with their respective contact brushes 0, 0 connected by conductor a.

By way of example, each of these switching apparatus has four stationary contacts, numbered as in Fig. 1, the contact brush 0 in the one case engaging contact 2 and in the other the contact 3.

Carried by and insulated from the frame of the vehicle V are two sets of contact shoes, four in each set, the first set, '0 42 o and a being connected respectively with the contacts 1, 2, 3 and a of the left hand switching apparatiis; and the other set com prises the contact shoes e0 10 20 and w connected respectively with the contacts 1, 2, 3 and l of the right hand switch.

These contact shoes are adapted to engage and makeelcctrical contact with con tact conductors disposed in the path of travel of the vehicle. These contact conductors may take the form of rails or other conductors extending suitable distances longitudinally of the traclrway. In Fig. 4 two of these contact conductors are indicated at m and y as of rail or T shape. In Fig. 3 is shown a fragment of the contact conductor m in side elevation with its cooperating contact shoe e making electrical contact therewith. The shoe e is a conductor, as of iron or steel, supported upon the ends of the conducting springs 2 a secured ate to a member 12 of wood or other suitable insulating material upon the moving vehicle.

Returning to Fig. i, the lateral positions of the other contact rails of the system located at diiierent places along the railway are indicated in dotted lines at :0 a, and a 3 3 and g V is a generator or other source of electric current with one terminal of which there is connected the contact conductor :0 and with whose other terminal is connected one terminal of the 'electro-magnet or relay R whose other terminal connects with the contact conductor g The relay armature a is adapted to engage and bridge the stationary contacts Z1 and-c of which 5 is connected to one terminal of the source G and 0 connects with one terminal of each of the translating devices L and M, either of which may be employed alone, and of which L is an incandescent electric lamp operating as an indicator or signal, and M is an electric motor, solenoid or'other motive device, the other terminals of the translating devices L and M being connected to the other terminal of the source G.

The track rails t, t are shown again in diagram to the right of Fig. 4, and disposed between them are the longitudinally extending contact conductors 00 and above referred to. S is a track switch controlled or operated by the motive device M for determining the direction or" the vehicle which may be caused to leave the main track and pass over the branch track T.

The operation is as follows:

The vehicle or car V may be driven by any suitable power and may be, for example, a car of an automatic electric railway system driven by electric motors which are automatically controlled, without a motorman upon the car.

Assuming the direction of travel to be that indicated by the arrow and that it is desired to set the track switch S so that the vehicle shall pass over the branch track T to the station A and to give an indication or signal thereat before arrival, the brushes 0, 0 of the switching apparatus upon the car will be set to such positions that they will engage with those stationary contacts which are electrically connected with the contact shoes o and Q03 which are so disposed with respect to each other transversely of the *ehicle V that they will engage the contact conductors m and y when the vehicle reaches those conductors. lVe then have the switching mechanism in the position shown in Fig. 4.

Before the vehicle reaches the contact conductors 09 and y the circuit of the relay R is open and'therefore the armature a will be resting against its stop (P, with the result that the circuits of the'lamp L and motive device M are open.

Should the vehicle in moving in the direction indicated first at some point in its travel pass over other pairs of contact conductors differently positioned in the trackway, the circuits controlled by those contact, conductors will not be closed because the contact brushes 0, 0 are not in the proper position to efiect that purpose.

However, upon reaching the conductors 02 and y a selective control is effected bv cause the brushes 6, 0 have previously been put in engagement with those stationary contacts 2, 3 of the respective switches which are connected with those contact shoes, 01 and 10 which are properly positioned to en gage and contact with the contact conductors m and The circuit is therefore closed through these contact conductors and the switching mechanism on the, car, with the result that the relay R is energized and thereupon raises its armature a and bridges the contacts 6 and 0 thereby energizing the lamp L, which therefore gives a signal or indication of the approach of the vehicle V and in addition causes energization of the motive device M which will cause the track switch S to move to such position that the car will be deflected to the branch track whose rails are t i If either of the brushes 0, 0 should occupy a different position than that indicated in Fig. 4, the circuit would not be closed upon traverse of the contact conductors m and 3 by the moving car, and therefore the switch S would not be thrown and the vehicle would proceed. along the main track whose rails are l, t. 7

From the foregoingit is seen that by properly positioning the switches upon'the vehicle and by properly positioning the contact conductors in the traclrway with respect to each other. there is effected a selection of a circuit which is closed or controlled through the switching mechanism on the car.

Ordinarily vehicle switches with a few contacts in each ill suffice to give a sufficient number of combinations. But if a greater number of combinations is required, recourse may be had to many other analogous or similar arrangements, only one of which is indicated in Fig. 5.

In the latter case four switches with three contacts each are shown, by means of which eighty-one difierent combinations are possible, wherefore eighty-one different circuits may be selected and controlled.

In this case it will be noted that four contact conductors are employed for each circuit selected for control through them, and that altogether there are twelve difiierent positions of the contact rails, as indicated. The circuit to be controlled has its terminals in the conductors 1, and 1 connecting respectively with the contact conductors f f 7 and 7', the positions of the other contact conductors at other places along the path of travel being indicated in dotted lines at 7', f f 7, f", f and 7. lVith these cooperate contact shoes g to which in groups of 3 are connected to the respective stationary contacts of the switches upon the vehicle. It will be noted that the contact rails f and 7, which cooperate respectively with the second and third switches, are interconnected by the conductor 7L1, while the movable contact brushes 0, c of the first pair of switches are connected toeach other by the conductor b and the movable contact brushes 0, c of the other pair of switches are connected by the conductor 7?. It will be noted, therefore, that the circuit whose terminals are 1 and 1 isclosed through the contact conductors and the switches in series.

The mode of operation is the same as that described in connection with Fig. 4, the circuit whose terminals are 1 and 1 containing a source of energy and any suitable translating device energized directly therefrom, or indirectly as by relay control as described in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 shows one of many possible applications of my invention to selective railway systems. It is here assumed that there are only three contact shoes in each set in place of the four shownat '0 '0 '0 c and 'w Q02, 20 w Fig. 4. There is therefore a like number in eachset of stationary contacts, which vmay be sections of rails as already described. These are shown in Fig. 6 as being outside therails of the trackway. In practice they may be either within or withoutthe track rails orpart maybe within and part without, but preferably they are within the track rails as in Fig. 4.

MT represents a short section of the-main track having branches B B and B Branch B is provided with sub-branches 13, and B branch B hassub-branches 13,

and B and branch 13 has the sub-branches B, and B The respective switches for these branches are under the control of the respective sets of stationary contacts SE SE SE etc., in the manner previously described. These sets are of two kinds those which directly control branches and those which control sub-branches. The former may be designated master sets, since they must be capable of selectively operating their switches for all vehicles which are destined for any of the sub-branches of their respective branches.

Considering the branch 13 for example, I provide the master set SE in which there is one contact rail on the left side and all three contact rails on the right side, the rail upon the left occupying position No. 3. Any vehicle in which the corresponding contact element No. 3 at the left'is connected with any one of the righ hand group will cooperate with the master set SE to close the switch for the branch B The vehicle will then be deflected to subbranch B or B, or will continue on the main branch B according as the active right hand contact element is No. 1, No. 2, or No. 3. tationary set S13 has but one rail upon the rightthat in position No. 1. 813, has its right hand rail in position No. 2. The left hand rail in each of the sets SE SE S13 is in position No. 3, this being the characteristic position for this series of switches.

A third sub-branch could be provided for branch B if desired, there being one more availablecombination with the No. 3 characteristicthat in which the right hand rail is in position No. 3. But in such case no cars would be left upon the main branch 13 so that an extension of this branch would be useless. But it is more desirable to dispense with the added sub-branch and its selective set, as shown in Fig. 6.

Branch track 13 is similarly controlled by set SE the characteristic of the series of sets of which this is the master set being position No. 2 at the left. Sub-branches B andB, are under the control of S13 and SB}, respectively.

The remaining branch B is shown without a master set of stationary contacts. This set is omitted for a reason similar to that already stated, viz: this being the last branch upon the system all cars intended for the other branches will have been selected before this branch is reached, so that no further selectionof a main branch is necessary. Or branch B may be considered merely as an extension of the main track MT.

Vehicles which reach branch B are switched to sub-branch B] if the active right and left contacts on the vehicle are both in position No. 1 and to subbranch B; it the active contacts are in position No. l at the left and No. 2 at the right, respectively. Those in which the connected contacts are in position No. l at the left and No. 3 at the right will proceed upon the branch B Similarly those vehicles in which the connected contacts occupy positions No. :2 at the left and llo. 3 at the right will ultimately reach the end of main branch B This principle of operation may be applied to any desired number of main branches and sub-branches, each of the latter being many times branched if desired. A master selective set may be mployed for each branch and another master set for each branched sub-branch.

While in the examples above described the translating devices are shown to be lo catcd along the path of travel of the vehicle, they may be located upon the car b3." connecting one or all of them in the conductor a or either or both of conductors h", 7& either in series with each other or in parallel with each other. And in such case the pairs of Contact conductors in the trackway will be electrically connected with the source or generator G, and if desired other translating devices; or the contact conductors of a pair may be directly connected to each other and the source of energy G may also be upon the car connected in the conductor u or in either or both of conductors if, 71 Either of these latter examples will serve to indicate upon the car or cause a response of the car when the car reaches a certain place on its path of travel without necessity for watching for that particular point upon the path of travel.

()bviously also, in addition to the signals or translating devices as indicated in 4, additional translating devices may be located upon the car as in the conductor 24 so as to afford information thereon as to whether or not the desired control has been efiected.

hat I claim is:

1. In a railway selective system, the combination with a plurality of groups of contact elements disposed upon the vehicle, of stationary selective elements, one for each group of contact elements, disposed in proximity to the track, and so positioned with respect thereto that, as the vehicle passes, said stationary selective elements will contact with predetermined ones respectively of said groups of contact elements, a switch for each group, each switch having a plurality of contacts connected respectively to the con tact elements of the respective group, a source of current, an electrically operated device, and means including circuit connections whereby a circuit may be completed nae-3,45?

In a railway selective system, the comination with a plurality of contact elements carried by the vehicle, of means including a switch carried by said vehicle for electrically connecting certain desired ones of said contact elements, a source of elec tric current, an electro-responsive device, selective means located adjacent the track for engaging predetermined ones of said contact elements, and means electrically con necting said source, said electro-responsive device and said selective means, whereby, by a proper setting of said switch, the electro-responsive device will be energized when the selective means become operative.

3. in a selective system for moving vehicles, the combination with a vehicle and a track therefor, of a plurality of contact elements disposed upon one-of them, and selective means carried by the other, and adapted to engage certain predetermined ones of said contact elements as the vehicle passes, means including a plurality of circuit closing elements for electrically connecting certain desired one of said contact elements, a source of electric current, an electro-responsive device, means including said selective elements and connections there for for electrically connecting, as the vehicle passes, the electro-responsive device, the source of current, the selective elements and the circuit closing elements, whereby said electro-responsive device will be operated only in case the circuit closing elements have been previously properly adjusted.

l. In a railway selective system, the combination with selective units located at intervals along the track, each unit consisting of a plurality of selective elements spaced apart and spaced from the track, the spacing being difterent for difierent units, of contact elements carried by the vehicle and spaced apart, said selective elements being so disposed that, as the vehicle passes the units, the selective elements will selectively engage those contact elements which are correspondingly disposed, means including a switch carried by the vehicle for electrically connecting certain desired ones of said contact elements, an electro-responsive device for each selective unit, energizing means for said electro-responsive devices, and means electrically connecting said electro-responsive devices with their respective selective elements, whereby the switch may be adjusted to cause selective operating of said electro-responsive devices.

5. In a railway selective system, the 001m bination with selective units located at intervals along the track, each unit consisting of a plurality of selective elements spaced apart and spaced from the track, the spacing being different for different units, of a plurality of groups of contact elements carried by the vehicle and spaced apart, said selective elements being so disposed that, as the vehicle passes any given unit, a contact element of each group will be engaged by a selective element of that unit, a switch for each group of contact elements, each switch having a plurality of elements connected re spectively to the contact elements of the corresponding group, connecting means including said switches for electrically con necting desired ones of said contact elements, an electro-responsive device for each selective unit, energizing means for said electro-responsive devices, and means including said selective elements and connections therefor for electrically connecting, as the vehicle passes a given unit, the electroresponsive device and the selective elements of that unit and the switches upon the vehicle, whereby the switches may be so adjusted as to cause selective operation of said electro-responsive devices.

6. In a railway selective system, the combination with a group of contact elements disposed upon the vehicle and spaced apart, of a group of stationary, spaced contact elements disposed in proximity to the track and spaced therefrom and so disposed that, as the vehicle passes, contact will be effected between such of the moving contacts and such of the stationary contacts as are in alinement, an electro-responsive device, a source of current, a plurality of serially connected switches, means including said switches for electrically connecting desired ones of one group of contact elements, and means including certain of said contact elements and connections for electrically connecting, as the vehicle passes, said electroresponsive device, said source of current and said serially connected switches, whereby said electro-responsive device will be operated only in case the switches have been previously adjusted to electrically connect such of said contact elements as are brought into contact with others as the vehicle passes.

7. In a railway selective system, the combination with a plurality of groups of selective contact elements, of means for connecting any desired contact element of one group with any contact element outside that group, said means including a switch contact for each element.

8. In a railway selective system, the combination with a plurality of groups of selective contact elements, of means for connecting any desired one of the contact elements of one group with any one of another group,

means for connecting any desired one of the contact elements of a third group with any one of a remaining group, and means for completing a circuit through all of the contact elements thus connected.

9. A selective railway system comprising a track having a plurality of branches at least one ofwhich is branched, a switch for each branch, a set of selective elements for ach switch, and a set of selective elements upon each vehicle, each vehicle set cooperating with one or more of the switch sets to selectively operate the corresponding switches.

10. A selective railway system comprising a main track, a branch from said main track and a branch from said branch track, a switch for each branch, selective elements beside the trackway controlling said switches, and selective elements upon each vehicle 00- operating with one or more of the selective elements beside the trackway to selectively operate the corresponding switches.

11. A selective railway system comprising a track having a plurality of branches at least one of which is branched, a switch for each branch, a set of selective elements for each switch, a set of selective elements upon each vehicle, each vehicle set cooperating with one or more of the switch sets to selectively operate the corresponding switches, and means for readjusting one of said cooperating sets to cause it to selectively operate difierent of said switches.

12. A selective railway system comprising a main track, a branch from said main track and a branch from said branch track, a switch for each branch, selective elements beside the traclrway controlling said switches, selective elements upon each vehicle co5perating with one or more of the selective elements beside the trackway to selectively operate the corresponding switches, and means for readjusting said selective elements to vary the selectivity.

13. A selective railway system comprising a main track, a branch from said main track and a branch from said branch track, a switch for each branch, sets of selective elements adjacent the trackway controlling said switches, and a set of selective elements upon each vehicle cooperating with one or more of said first mentioned sets to selectively operate the corresponding switches to bring the vehicle upon a desired branch,

mechanism for each pair for connecting any desired element of one group of the pair with any element of the other group of the pair, and means for completing a circuit through all of the elements thus connected.

15. In a railway selective system, the combination with railway vehicles, of a main track therefor, a main branch from said main track, branches from said branch track, a switch for each branch, sets of selective elements adjacent the trackway for controlling said switches, and selective elements upon each vehicle selectively cooperating with the sets of selective elements controlling the switch for the main branch and that for any desired one of the branches of said main branch whereby the selective elements controlling the switch for said main a In testimony whereof I have hereunto af- I i fixed my signature this 10th day of March, 1917.

KENNETH E. STUART.

Eopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, G. 

